Rs 1.5 cr found in storage space of luxury bus; cops look at hawala angle
Rs 1.5 cr found in storage space of luxury bus; cops look at hawala angle
It seems the police raid on a luxury bus in November last year has done little to stop the movement of hawala money on the Kolhapur-Mumbai route. It was the third time the police seized cash from a luxury bus when they swooped down on it in the wee hours yesterday.
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Police sources said the latest raid exposed hawala transactions between the state and Karnataka via the Bangalore-Pune route.
"The police and Income Tax Department joint operation is very important to curb this trend," said the source.u00a0
A team of Pune Rural Crime Branch officials led by Police Inspector Bhausaheb Andalkar raided a Sanjay Travels bus plying the Ichalkarnji-Navi Mumbai route. Acting on a tip off that Rs 3 crore in cash was being transported illegally in the luxury bus, the police raided the bus.
When they looked in the boot space, two polythene gunny sacks were found filled with more than Rs 1.52 crore, the currency notes neatly packed in bundles of Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 1,000 denomination.
Jewellery weighing 330 gm was also found packed in six cardboard boxes.u00a0
The police arrested the bus driver Anil Nehru Mule (35), a resident of Ichalkaranji, Hatkanagle, Kolhapur district.
The police have also called the owner of the company Mahesh Gajanan Tripathi for questioning.
"We are trying to trace a jeweller called Mali, who had asked the travel company owner to send Rs 30 lakh to a person in Navi Mumbai," said a source.
District Police Superintendent Pratap Dighavkar said, "It is seen that black money is transferred through courier service from one state to another. To curb this illegal trend, joint action will be taken along with the Income tax Department."
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